


Waiting For A Countdown

by orphan_account



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: M/M, Soulmate timer Au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-28
Updated: 2014-03-28
Packaged: 2018-01-17 07:15:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1378612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Joel has had a timer for 5 years, a timer that is supposed to count down to the moment he would meet his soul mate, it never started.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Waiting For A Countdown

Someone had once thought of ‘what if a clock could count down to the moment you meet your soul mate?’ and went ‘I can make something out of this’. The company TiMER had figured out how, and for a small monthly fee, the company can equip anyone with a countdown time that counts down to the exact moment the customer meets their soul mate. And after more than fifteen years of operation, the company has a 98% approval rating.

Most of the employees at Rooster Teeth have the timer. Some of already concluded, some are still ticking down, and then there’s Joel.

Joel stared at his wrist, his timer blank. He didn’t want one at first, but after a couple of drinks and some convincing words from Burnie, he had gotten one. But, when it got attached, no numbers came up. At first, Joel thought he got a defective one, and had to go through the piercing pain in his wrist again. But, the woman that had done the procedure explained. His soul mate just hadn’t got a timer yet, it happens.

But, his timer has been blank for 5 years now.

He didn’t mind that much, but it was a constant reminder that he would probably not meet his One. So he chose to cover his timer with everything and anything that could hide it: watches, slap-bands, cuff bracelets.

Now, back to why he was staring at said timer. He was working on another Let’s Play with Adam; they had taken a break to rest their eyes and their hands. Joel’s wrist had started to itch and hurt from wearing his bracelet too long, so he took it off. He began to stretch his wrist to try to get the ache to go away, when Adam’s voice cut through the silence.

“You have one of those things?” Joel stared at his timer for a second before looking at Adam.

“Yeah, well you see, I had had one too many drinks one night, and a very convincing voice by the name of Burnie had talked me into getting one,” Adam laughed at the mention of Burnie, before talking some more.

“I never thought of you as one to have a soul mate timer,”

“It was an intriguing thought. To actually have a set time for when you meet your soul mate. I had thought about getting one before, Burnie just gave me that push I needed,” Joel said, as he ran his thumb over the timer.

“But you don’t have any numbers on it. Did you already meet your soul mate and time out already?” Adam asked, looking at the timer for a second. Joel shook his head.

“No. Whoever I’m supposed to be with just hasn’t gotten a timer yet, but its fine, more time to myself. Now,” Joel grabbed the Xbox controller, looking back at Adam.

“Let’s kill more zombies,” Adam nodded, grabbing his controller as well. They settled quickly back into the game. But as he was playing, Joel couldn’t help but noticed that Adam didn’t have a timer; he was going to ask about it until a zombie on the screen jumped onto his character and the thought was forgotten.

XXX

Much time had passed since Adam and Joel talked about Joel’s timer, the conversation was almost completely forgotten about. They began to hang out more often while at work and outside of the office, as well as working on more Let’s Plays. Joel was a bit surprised to see how much he and Adam had got along. The other man had even sat down and listened to Joel rant about the stock market, even put in his own opinion; not many people in the office liked to do that. Adam helped him pull pranks on Jack and some others, and the two could be always be found on their lunch breaks with the other. Joel had even let him have a tour of his MineCraft world, and not many people were allowed to do that.

Joel was generally happy, but something was just a bit weird. There were times when he wasn’t with Adam, where he was always thinking about the other; wondering what he was doing, what he was thinking, what he was saying. It would be at random moments in time; while he was grabbing some coffee before heading out in the morning, waiting for some projects to render, sometimes even before he went to bed. Sometimes it aggravated Joel; sometimes it put him at ease, and the rest of the time, it made him happy. He was curious about this, wondering why his thought process was going like this, so he voiced this to Jack. His best friend gave him a look, before smiling at him.

“Sounds like you really like him,”

“Of course I like him. He’s my friend,” Jack shook his head, before taking a sip of his drink and turning back to Joel.

“No, Joel. I mean a different type of ‘like’, may be even love. That thought process you say you’re having about him, I had that too, when I was away from Caiti. I would always think about her, and it would brighten up my day more. Maybe, you should think over how you really feel about him,” Jack said, before looking back to the TV screen. Joel drank some more of his beer, mulling over his thoughts. Maybe Jack was right. The thought of Adam had put a smile on his face most times. He really liked being around Adam, as Joel thought about it more, he thought of more things he liked about Adam: Adam’s smile, his calming presence, his laugh, his sense of humor, his patience. The more Joel thought about it, the warmer his chest got. He began to think that Jack is right, and he smiled and drank more of his beer. But, his eye caught sight of his timer.

His mood dropped. Yes, he could have feelings for Adam, but what happened if his timer had activated while he was in a relationship with Adam. His mind began to a string of ‘what ifs’ as he stared at his timer. His train of thought crashed when Jack reached out and lowered Joel’s hand away from Joel’s face.

“You know Joel. You don’t have to live by that timer. It doesn’t really control who you fall in love with,” Joel scowled.

“Says the guy who met his soul mate a month after having his timer installed,” Jack just shrugged, before continuing on.

“I just want you to be happy, Joel. And Adam makes you happy from what I can see. I am just saying, you can get rid of the timer if you want to, and just live your life how you want to,” Joel could see Jack’s point, and it was valid. Silence settled in between the two friends, the conversation over, and Joel contemplating Jack’s idea.

“You’re right. I will make an appointment tomorrow,” Jack smiled at his best friend, and patted him on the shoulder. Joel smiled back, though in the back of his mind, he felt a bit guilty.

XXX

Joel sat in his desk chair, looking over the TiMER company website. Clicking the page about removals, he looked over the information. He knew there was no turning back if he decided to go through with it. He knew it was a possible cause that if his soul mate did to get the timer installed after his was gone, they would be stuck with a blank timer for the rest of their lives. He took his eyes away from the screen, and just put his head in his hands. His head started to hurt, as he began to think more and more about it. A knock on his door pulled him out of his thought. Adam looked down at him, before looking behind him at the computer screen.

“Removal? Thinking of getting the timer removed?” Adam asked, with a raised eyebrow. Joel shrugged.

“It’s just…It’s been blank for over 5 years now. Thinking of just moving on,” Joel said, rubbing his wrist. He wasn’t going to tell Adam the complete truth.

“Oh,” Joel thought he could hear disappointment in Adam’s voice, but took the thought out of his mind.

“Hey, um. Do you want to go get coffee after we’re done with work and all?” Joel said, nervousness suddenly settling into his chest. Adam rubbed the back of his head,

“Actually, I have something I have to do after work that I can’t put off. Maybe another time?” Joel nodded. Adam stood awkwardly at the office door, before turning around and leaving. Joel watched him disappear out of his window, wondering what Adam had originally come for. He rubbed his face, before turning back to his computer and looking up the number for a close-by TiMER store to set an appointment for later that day.

XXX

Joel sat in the uncomfortable metal chair. He felt like he was in a dentist office, because of the chair design and the various metal tools on a counter near him. The receptionist had brought him into one of the rooms they used to attach the timer devices. She had told him to wait there while she got her manager. Apparently, removals were very uncommon. The door opened and both the receptionist and her manager walked in. The manager pulled a wheelie chair close to the chair Joel was currently sitting in.

“Now, Mr. Heyman. I heard you want to get your timer removed. We can do it for you, but we just want to ask a question before the removal process. Now, what is your reason why you are having a removal today?” Joel looked down at his timer.

“I just want to go about my life, and not worry about it anymore. It never started anyway,” The manager had a look of pity on his face, and made Joel a bit mad. So he placed his arm in the armrest, timer first upwards. The manager pulled a device out of a drawer, and had it hover above Joel’s wrist.

“Now, I want to remind you that once this is gone, there is no going back. Once the timer is pulled for your wrist, the connection and nerves are severed and if attempt to put a new timer on, it would not work, even if you put on the other hand. Are you still sure about this?” Joel swallowed dryly; he still had a sense of guilt about doing this. But, he turned his thought back towards Adam. How he just wanted to be with him, and not worry about having a silly little timer that never started in the first place. He looked up at the manager and nodded, rising his wrist a little bit. The manager sighed, pressing the removal device onto the time.

“On the count of 3, ready? 1…2…3,” Just as the manager said 3, a beeping noise started to fill the room. Joel looked around the room to see where it was coming from, only to see the manager and the receptionist give him a knowing look. His eyes widened, and he pulled his wrist close to him, the beeping sound turning into a little tune before it turned silent. The manager touched his shoulder,

“Congratulations, you’re going to meet your soul mate. And by the looks of it, you’re going to meet them tomorrow,”

XXX

Joel didn’t sleep a wink the entire night. He was stressed and nervous. He was wondering who it could be. By counting the minutes and hours, he could tell he would most probably be in the office. He worried all night, and dawn came too soon. He left his bed and got ready to go to work. He grabbed his cuff bracelet, but thought it over and just placed it back down on his dresser. It wasn’t going to make a difference today.

He took his time going to work, and avoided looking at his co-workers while he made his way to his office. Joel tried hard to work, but when he caught a glimpse of his timer, seeing it count down, just distracted him. He continued on, bringing up the NPR website up and listened to some news. Time started to drift by after that, he avoided looking down at his wrist as he typed away. An hour later, he started to get tired and decided it was time for some more coffee.

Joel got up from his desk, stretched his back for a second before making his way towards the break room. Geoff, Burnie and Jack stood in the kitchen area, talking about new projects and ideas. Joel walked around them to grab a coffee mug, only to have his timer start to sing. Behind him, he could hear another timer singing as well. Silence fell upon the break room, and Joel could feel people staring at him. He didn’t want to turn around just yet. Not yet, but he knew he couldn’t avoid it forever.

He closed his eyes as he turned around. His heart pounded away in his chest, he could feel someone grab his shoulder and bring him closer to the middle of the break room. The person patted him on the shoulder, it was either reassurance or to tell him to suck it up. Joel finally gave in, and slowly started to open his eyes. Before him stood Adam staring at his own wrist and looking up at Joel. A smile broke out on Adam’s face, as he held up his wrist to show Joel a timer. Joel in a daze stepped closer to Adam, both timers chirped when they made eye contact, and they both knew. Adam decided to break the silence

“So…about that coffee,”

**Author's Note:**

> This was a RTSecretSanta gift for tumblr user reallysweetsass. The prompt had been ‘Something you’ve been wanting to write but never got the chance to’. And I’ve been wanted to write a TiMER au (Inspired by the movie by the same name) for a while now. Hoped you enjoyed!
> 
> I am accepting prompts through my tumblr 'yangxiaowow'


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